Portable ionic air purifiers are called upon to controllably provide ions to energize and to clean a polluted personal airspace such as that of a taxicab or airplane cabin or other environ of viruses, pollen, smoke, mold, dust mites, and other particulate pollutants while posing little or no personal shock risk, and among other things to exhibit a long battery life and to be manufacturable at low cost. The heretofore known portable ionic air purifiers, such as the aforesaid patents to Joannou, U.S. Pat. No. 7,215,526, Ion Generator with Open Emitter and Safety Feature, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,919,053, Portable Ion Generator and Dust Collector, however, are disadvantageous in one or more of these or other aspects.